Iris’s POVAfter moments of silence, I finally spoke.“Fine!” I blurted, very sure I couldn’t stand the sex word any longer.His eyes widened slightly, the smirk disappearing for a split second. “You mean-“ he started to say, but I quickly interrupted him, knowing he had misunderstood.“I’ll go with you..just step out let me get dressed.”The smirk was back on his face like it had never left. “Funny. You forget I’ve seen you naked a couple of times. There’s nothing to hide.” He crossed the room and perched on my bed, folding his arms. “I can even sketch your perfect body with my eyes closed.”Sulking, I hurried into the bathroom and slammed it shut, unwilling to let him see just how much his teases affected me.A while later, I walked out of the bathroom and into my walk-in closet, not sparing him a glance, and I picked out what I thought would be a good hiking outfit.Something similar to his.“But it’s Sunday,” I said as I stepped back into the room, “who hikes on a Sunday? If anyth
Iris’s POVHis words stung more than I expected, and I huffed. “I don’t need your help. I’ve got this,” I responded, ignoring his outstretched palm.“Don’t be stubborn about this. You look weak as fuck already, and would probably pass out soon. Just take my hand.”“And why would you care? I should get stronger and protect myself.”A slew of curses flew out of his mouth then,—in a language I barely recognized, probably Italian—and I shrank back in fear at the expression on his face.He looked angry…very angry.I clamped my mouth shut, refraining from angering him further.“We’ll make the rest of this journey down with you on my back, and I’m not asking. So, stay where you are, I’ll come get you.”“Okay.” I had just put out my right foot to steady myself on the rock beneath me, so I could balance myself properly and wait for him to climb back up and pick me—I looked around me, wondering how he’d be able to carry me on his back and climb down the slippery trail. It didn’t seem like an ac
Iris’s POVI woke up screaming, my arms flailing blindly in the air as I did.I couldn’t breathe—or that was what it felt like.You know this feeling you get while dreaming—I mean most people probably don’t know it’s a dream until they wake—you keep falling, and falling until your body finally jerks forward, and somehow, that is always when you wake up…This is a shabby description of how I felt at that moment.From nowhere, a warm hand closed over my mouth, trying to stifle my screams. “Hush now, child. You’re safe here.”The voice I just heard was gut-wrenchingly serene and peaceful, which pacified me greatly, and I stopped screaming.I turned to see a really pretty woman, probably in her early forties, with the most patient and sweetest smile I had ever seen on her face.She was patting my back and smoothing down my hair ever so gently, it almost moved me to tears.. the highest bit of compassion I had received in a while now. “You’re safe here, okay? You can relax.”My eyes trailed
Iris’s POVMy wrist burned from just how much he gripped it. Possessively. Fearfully. I almost thought they would fall off.We were on our way to where his car was parked, at the foot of the hiking trail.“Were you going to burn the church down if they didn’t let you through?” I asked, although I already knew the answer to that question deep down.Damon was a ruthless man, I knew that. And this very fact answered my question.And of course, he ignored my question, and my entire existence on the ride home, which kinda infuriated me.He seemed broody, a stormy anger brewing underneath the surface of his rock-hard visage.Why would he be angry? If anyone should be angry, I believe that would be me. I was the one that fell…and that was his fault.He had taken me on that stupid hike, when I didn’t ask, and had sheepishly refused to give me a helping hand.I kept sighing all the way home, but he didn’t look back at me even once. I was just the ignored passenger princess.We got to the manor
Iris’s POVI ducked out from underneath the sheets as my phone pinged.I was expecting a text.After Damon left my room, I had been so restless, thinking about all the things he said and that damned kiss. My head had been all over the place, trying to figure out what he wanted with me, and what I wanted with him.A perfect opportunity to escape, my freedom, had been presented to me back at the church—orphanage, as he had argued—and I had faltered to grab it. Why? I just couldn’t understand.I hated this man, so why did I falter at the idea of escaping from him forever? I knew it wasn’t because I felt he would catch up to me soon enough. The thought didn’t even cross my mind then.Was it the fear that I had nowhere to go if I escaped? I had no family, and the closest thing to that I had, already discarded me—sold me off like some piece of furniture to a ruthless man.Mimi..would I ever be able to forgive her?My brain is fuzzy with thoughts of a tall, dark-haired, gray-eyed man, I even
I turned off the shower and stepped into the bathroom, and soon after I’d lathered my skin with my favorite rose-scented body lotion, I got dressed in a red flowery sundress and black sandals. I struggled with my hair in the mirror, torn between letting it down and packing it up in a bun.I finally settled on a ponytail, and when I waltzed out almost an hour later, the table was set already.Gary’s eyes were filled with displeasure as they rested on me the moment I came down the stairs. “What is it about women and bathrooms? Why do they spend the whole day getting ready?”“I bet you would never understand, Gary!” Mary called out from the kitchen, “You’re not a woman, after all.”I smirked at him. “You did ask me to take my sweet time, didn’t you?”The smell of hot chicken riggies wafted to where I stood, and my mouth watered, making me realize just how hungry I was. The only thing I had eaten last night was Damon’s kiss, and I almost rolled my eyes at the thought.He didn’t even care
Iris’s POV“How can we help you?”The primly dressed girl at the reception looked mean, and she didn’t care one bit to mask it from her tone too.Her eyes trailed to my hair one too many times as I explained to her that I was there to register for a cooking class. Was she..jealous of my hair?“Hello?” I prompted when she didn’t give me a response, and she snapped her eyes away from my hair.“Which of the classes would you like to sign up for?” She asked, twirling a strand of her hair around her fingers and loudly blowing the bubble gum in her mouth.“All?”She looked up at me, her brows furrowing. “All? Do you know how many classes we offer?”I shook my head. “No, but if you can enlighten—““I do not have the time for that. You’re going to have to come back some other time.” She slammed the desk drawer closed and focused her gaze on the desktop in front of her, completely ignoring my existence.I stared at her, offended at the offhand manner in which she had attended to me. “Excuse me
Damon’s POV“Fuck, yes! Harder.”I closed my palm over her mouth, slamming hard into her from behind. I could feel my release drawing close, the sight of her fair ass pleasing.I snatched my dick out of her pussy and flipped her over, splashing my release all over her lower abdomen and milf-sized boobs.She purred in half satisfaction and half displeasure as I pulled away from her, drawing me back in, but I groaned, smearing the cum on her skin. “You’re fucking insatiable, Alina. Well if you wanna continue the fun, you’re going to have to pleasure yourself. As you know, I’m a busy man.” Then I pried her hands away and strode to the bathroom, re-emerging some moments later with a freshly washed body. She glared at me, her eyes glazed over as an aftermath of the pleasure I’d just given her. “You were thinking of someone else while you fucked me,” she observed, her tone accusatory.Ignoring her question, I plopped into the chair and started to put on my boots. “Spread your legs, Alin
Damon’s POVThree months earlier“So, you got a new tattoo?”The voice of the therapist pulled me out of my thoughts, and I pulled my gaze away from the window facing the garden, looking down at the still-fresh tattoo on my arm.“Yeah..” I murmured, tracing a finger across the face on the tattoo, lingering around the eyes that stared back at me.“When?” The female therapist asked, and I shrugged, not taking my eyes off the tattoo.“Just a few weeks back, I guess.”“Really? Can I see?”“Sure,” I mumbled, heaving a sigh.She rose to her feet and moved around her desk, coming over to where I sat and leaning forward behind me.“Wow,” she exclaimed quietly, a little amazement in her voice. “That’s a unique face. A pretty one, at that.”“Yeah, I know right?” I replied, the corners of my lips tilting up in a small smile. “It’s a face I keep seeing in my dreams, Andrea.”Andrea, my therapist, stood back then and observed me closely, almost lik
Iris’s POVA year laterI stood at the floor-to-ceiling window on the balcony of the condo, admiring the beautiful night view, my mind a melancholic mess.It had been that way since that night after Damon had fallen off that cliff.And we hadn’t seen him since.There was nowhere we hadn’t looked.But Damon was nowhere to be found.I’d cried and cried for months, but to my greatest despair, that was all I could do.Sometimes I wished Luca hadn’t showed up with Gary when he did, because then I’d have been killed too, and I wouldn’t have to deal with this pain.At least I’d be dead and buried, probably alongside him.It was as I’d seen him falling off that cliff that I knew I was in love with Damon Vyon, my heart falling right out with him.And I never got a chance to tell him how I felt…“What are you thinking about?”I whirled around to see Luca standing at the balcony door, watching me with a sober expression on his face.He too, had not remained the same ever since Damon disappeared
Iris’s POVThe gun fell out of my trembling hand, clattering to the floor.Did he just ask me to shoot Damon?No, no. I couldn’t.Sighing and pushing his fingers through his hair, Zach bent down and picked up the gun, approaching me menacingly. “Don’t piss me off, pretty girl,” he snapped, his tone laced with derision, as he pressed the gun into my hand again. “Shoot him, I said.”“No!” I screamed now, intentionally throwing the gun far from me, and as it tumbled over the cliff, Zach let out a deep growl and whirling around, he struck me heavily across the cheek.“Fucking bastard!” Damon yelled, struggling viciously to break free of his chains, and tears blurring my vision, I stared down at him, knowing very well that this would end badly.How could we possibly get out of this?What miracle could happen?“Hey you,” Zach snapped his fingers at one of his men, “get me another gun.” They quickly came forward, presenting him with a new gun, and he took it, observing it closely.“Now,” he
Damon’s POVI stared up at the chief coward—Zach, was it?—my vision blurring.Ah. So it was him? The one I’d replaced?This story he recounted.. triggered the memory of a day I’d kept buried and locked up, unconsciously, the pain coming right back and whipping me emotionally.That little boy from back then. I stared at the scar on his chest, remembering how I’d felt seeing him bleed out on the floor that day.“You seem to be getting your fucking memories back, don’t you?” Zach spat, his eyes growing darker than they were already.Of course, that day had been a fucking bloody day. So how could I forget?*****Fifteen years ago“W-what are you doing here?” The man who called himself my father stuttered, staring at me with a fear I’d never seen in his eyes before.We stood facing each other on the rooftop of his new law firm, a stick of cigar in his hand, dark circles underneath his eyes.Had he even been sleeping? Well, how could he sleep, after he sold me off to that maniac of a mafia
Damon’s POVHe glared at me for a long time, saying nothing, his eyes taking on a distant look. Then rising to his feet, he cleared his throat.“It’s your money, quite alright,” he started, shoving his fingers in his pocket, alongside the flash drive, “but this money is nothing compared to what you stole from me, Damon.”What the heck was he talking about? What exactly would I steal from a stranger like him? Someone I knew nothing about?He stopped pacing for a while, staring down at me. “You might have forgotten,” he scoffed, “seeing how fucking clueless you look right now.”“Look,” I started, frustration climbing into my tone, against my will, “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, or how you got your hands on that. But if it’s the money you want, you can keep it.” “Just let her go,” I added, nodding in Iris’s direction. “She has nothing to do with any of this.”He looked back at her for a moment, then threw his head back in a maniacal laughter, shaking his head.“Who sai
Damon’s POVThe slap of the wind on my face was what woke me up this time. Slowly, I peeled my eyes open, every part of my body aching, my head throbbing painfully.Where was I now?Fuck…Iris..There was no time, and here I was..lying around, letting that weird woman keep putting me down.Looking around, I slowly realized where I was. On a cliff? How come? How did I get here? That weird woman couldn’t have carried me here all alone, right?This was a cliff..had to be. That was one explanation for this much breeze and open space.Grunting, I tried to move around, and I was a bit disappointed to find that I was still bound by wrists and ankles. What was I expecting?I tried to turn around then, and someone’s foot pressed into my back, pushing me back to the ground.“Well, well,” an unfamiliar voice rang out from behind me, cold and rusty, and excited, “look who we have here.”I tried to turn around, to see who had joined us, but the person that had their stinky foot on my back pressed i
Iris’s POV“Where the fuck have you been?”I was jammed in the backseat of the moving car, between a woman who smelled heavily of putrid blood, and the man who had slapped me earlier, my hands and feet still bound very tightly, the ropes cutting into my flesh.I had no idea where we were headed.“Well,” the woman cleared her throat, “is that how you thank me for making this fucking easy for you?”Sighing, the man leaned back in his seat and pulled the woman into his lap.“Unlock the windows, Dante,” he ordered, twisting his nose upwards, “it smells so fucking rotten in here.”Then he turned his attention to the woman in his lap. “I’m sorry, my beautiful Anna,” he murmured, stroking her hair. “I was just carried away with all that’s happening, you know. Everything’s happening all at once, and I mean, it’s good. Trust me.”She smiled, reaching into her pocket and retrieving a pack of cigarettes. “Okay..” she murmured, “what do you have to say about my performance?”“I’m duly impressed,
Iris’s POVI’d thought this vile-looking man could be bluffing when he’d insinuated that he had Damon, but from the way his eyes sparkled right now, I feared it wasn’t just an insinuation. He’d meant it.And what was that he said? He wanted me to kill Damon? Why would I do that? Why would he want that? I mean, it was clear now that this man was an enemy of Damon’s, but why would he want me to kill Damon?As I glared up at him, my eyes burning, my heart ramming hard against my chest, I tried to regulate my breathing. Tried to mask the fear that now clouded my senses, making my tongue as heavy as lead.I swallowed hard, wincing from the pain of my hair being pulled right down to the scalp. “You want me to do what?” I demanded, my tone laced with that same fear I tried so hard to mask.Scoffing, he let go of my hair and rose to his feet. “You try to hide it,” he started, “but you seem to be quite distressed by what I’d just said.” He paused, shoving his palms into his pockets and glaring
Zach’s POV“Anna did all of that?”I stood with my back to Dante, staring out the floor-to-ceiling window, the corners of my lips turned up in a satisfactory smile.“Yes, boss,” Dante replied. “We were just on our way to send a message across to Damon Vyon when she called with the information.”Throwing my head back, I let out a small chuckle, clapping my palms dramatically. “She’s a real vixen, isn’t she?” I muttered, shaking my head. “It baffles me, you know, how very alike we seem.”“So,” I continued after a few moments of silence passed, “we have Damon Vyon in our hands right now? Is that truly so?”“Yes, boss,” he replied. “He’s currently at the warehouse we’ve prepared. We await further instructions from you.”“Great,” I murmured, thumbing my beard.I didn’t think it would be so easy to capture Damon Vyon. I’d spent all these years planning, envisioning, dreaming, wishing. Seeing how deadly he was. And now, Anna had pulled it off like it was a fucking walk in the park.I was dul